Letter: Cuomo counsel declares energy company off-limits

In response to Thursday’s news conference by opponents of the Competitive Power Ventures’ natural-gas-fueled plant in Orange County, the Cuomo administration released a letter sent Monday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Counsel Alphonso David to the leaders of the New York Power Authority, the chair of the state Public Service Commission and the commissioners of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The message of the letter, boiled down: Until further notice, New York State is not doing business with CPV.

The company has been connected to salary paid to the wife of Cuomo’s former executive deputy secretary, Joe Percoco. It has said it is cooperating with the investigation by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara.

The letter calls for the entities to “immediately suspend or discontinue all communications with CPV or CPV Valley, activities in support of any regulatory approvals for CPV or CPV Valley, any ongoing regulatory proceedings related to CPV or CPV Valley, or any other discussions of projects, proposals, lobbying, transactions, or other matters concerning New York State, its Executive Agencies or Authorities that pertain to CPV or CPV Valley.”

The administration noted that while some permits and approvals for construction of the plant have been issued, it can’t operate before obtaining NYPA’s interconnection agreement for Marcy South Line and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s OK for a lateral connection to the Millennium Pipeline. Both are currently on hold.

A similar off-limits order has been less formally issued by the administration in regard to lobbyist Todd Howe.

Are we really expected to believe that no one, not Cuomo or a single member of the brain trust on the 2nd floor, knew ANYTHING about CPV, Percoco, WOH, CHA, Columbia, “Dr. No”, etc., etc. before the end of last week? Andy’s new title should be “Governor Pants-On-Fire”. He and his political future are toast!

Not for nothing, but what is the authority for Alfonso David to issue a letter directing the heads of NYPA, PSC, and NYSERDA to do (or not do) anything? I mean, are you kidding me? Alfonso David? He’s counsel to the governor, not lord chancellor of New York State. Who does he think he is – Alexander Haig? (Having dealt with Alfonso, I’ll bet $1M he has no idea who Al Haig was.) It’s when this type of lunacy goes unchecked that matters in New York get much worse. Each NYPA, PSC, and NYSERDA are governed by boards of directors. They are legally in charge of their respective entities, and they and only they can issue edicts to their executives. It’s time for Cuomo to admit that he has damaged the office of the governor beyond repair – through his actions and his facilitation of corruption by those around him. And it is time for Alfonso David to learn to Al Haig was, and while he’s at it, to read a few law books before declaring himself to be the law in New York State. Alphonso is but a single dunce within Cuomo’s confederacy of dunces.

Pretty sure each of the entities has board members appointed by the Governor, which means they are subject to the Public Officers Law conflict of interest/ethics policies, which makes the letter appropriate.
Al Haig was in fact in charge sometimes, somewhere, for some purposes!!

Only a true narcissist would presume to offer unsolicited counsel to other states when his is dead least in nearly anything positive and first in any thing negative. But, that’s the liberal way. Leadin the charge in the race to the bottom.

So CPV has been mentioned as being part of an investigation. So what. Have they been shown to be guilty of anything? Why stop regulatory proceedings because they are being investigated on other presumably unrelated matters? Guilty before being proved innocent?? Bizarre. Probably this is more of a move to stop anything associated with advancing natural gas into the state.